The Victoria County Democratic Party’s County Convention will be held on March 20th, 2010
Time 12:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Location: St. Francis Episcopal Church Parish Hall, 3002 Miori Lane
All Delegates and Alternates elected at their Precinct Conventions on March 2, 2010 are invited to attend.
Democratic challenger Bill White criticized Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican, on Tuesday for pressing state agencies to cut their spending by 5 percent, calling the approach “Soviet-style” budget management.
With Texas facing a budget shortfall of at least $11 billion, White also refused to rule out future tax increases to close the gap.
“Until you look under the hood and see what you can do, and what the state of the economy is, and what the trade-off is, you shouldn’t be making that decision”on taxes, White said at a conference hosted by the Texas Tribune online news site.
White criticized Perry in particular for calling on state agencies to trim their spending by 5 percent to prepare for rough times ahead for the state budget. He promised to take a more deliberate approach to the budget.
“It won’t be done by things that are just across the board, Soviet style, you know, budget management that only career politicians seem to embrace,” White said.
In January, Perry joined Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Joe Straus, both Republicans, in calling on state agencies to reduce their spending by 5 percent amid declining state revenues.
The request exempted federal entitlement spending on items such as the Medicaid health care program, the primary fund for public schools and teachers retirement benefits.
White, a former mayor of Houston,lawyer and energy executive, repeatedly referred to Perry as a “career politician” who was more interested in sound bites than undertaking careful policy reforms. He also criticized Perry for relying too much on debt to finance road construction and said the longest-serving state governor was taking credit for Texas’ economic strengths without embracing responsibility for policy failures.
He noted that high oil and gas prices in recent years allowed money to stockpile in state coffers, and that the Texas economy historically grows faster than the rest of the country.
White also said that he brought jobs to Houston when he was mayor without help from the state, “nor did I need or want help.” And he said he brought in businesses “without giving them tax dollars.”
The Cook Political Report, a non-partisan online political soothsaying publication, just declared the Texas gubernatorial race a toss-up. Previously it had been in the “Lean Republican” category.
Despite Gov. Rick Perry’s decisive victory in the Republican primary and the GOP dominance in the state, Senior Editor Jennifer Duffy points to signs of Perry fatigue. She argues that Democratic nominee Bill White’s history as a businessman and moderate, as well as solid fundraising stats, will help protect him from getting called a “screaming liberal Democrat.” They also predict that Democratic lite guv candidate Linda Chavez-Thompson will help turn out the Hispanic vote — presumably a boon for White.
Most interestingly, Duffy says that had U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison won, the open-seat contest would have lent itself to the state’s traditional Republican voting patterns. But she says Perry’s incumbency may be enough of a liability to elect White.
Some excerpts from the release:
…In the end, voters still saw a nasty and expensive primary, but it fell short of the bruising slugfest most had predicted. Although Medina took 18 percent of the vote, she didn’t force a run-off as Perry took 51 percent and Hutchison fell far short of expectations at 30 percent. Hutchison’s candidacy seemed doomed almost from the start. Citing Hutchison’s 17-year tenure in the Senate, Perry attacked her early and often as a creature of Washington and a symbol of all its problems. Apart from going after Perry for being the state’s longest serving Governor who is now seeking a third full term, Hutchison never seemed to find a message that resonated with voters. …
It’s also worth mentioning [Debra] Medina’s performance. Medina was a favorite of Tea Party activists, but many observers believed that she had irreparably damaged her candidacy in February when she suggested that she had some empathy with those who believe the theory that the September 11 attacks were an inside job. On one level, Medina’s 18 percent is impressive for an underfunded candidate. On another level, though, the Tea Party in Texas is believed to be one of the largest and most active in the nation. If their candidate could pull just 18 percent under those circumstances, it may not bode well for other Tea Party candidates across the country. In fact, none of the Tea Party candidates running in Congressional races gained any significant ground on GOP incumbents in Tuesday’s primary.
For more go to the Texas Tribune article.
Health care access is a right for all, not a privilege reserved for the few. Read More »
Contested Primary Races
Judge, County Court of Law No. 2
Republican
Daniel Gilliam 52%
Travis H. Ernst 48%
County Commissioner, Precinct No. 2
Republican
David B. Stithem 15%
Kevin Janak 85%
County Chairman
Republican
Michael Cloud 29%
Mary Anne Wyatt 46%
Dale D. Zuck 22%
County Commissioner, Precinct No. 4
Republican
Clint C. Ives 62%
Ernie Byrd 38%
Democrat
Wayne D. Dierlam 66%
Lupe C. Zapata, Jr. 34%
Criminal District Attorney
Democrat
Debrah Branch 52%
Frank F. Henderson, Jr. 48%
County Judge
Democrat
Donald R. Pozzi 55%
Ron Reyna 45%
County Clerk
Democrat
Robert Cortez 51%
Val D. Huvar 49%
Justice of the Peace, Precinct No. 1
Democrat
Gilbert Gonzalez 39%
Annie Ramos 61%
Justice of the Peace, Precinct No. 3
Democrat
Beatriz Q. Gonzalez 78%
Joseph G. Garza 22%
This year’s Texas Democratic State Convention will be held at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas, June 25-26th. There is great enthusiasm on the part of the Corpus Christi community to welcome our Democratic Delegates, Alternates and guests to this year’s convention and kick our election season into high gear.
Importantly, in addition to facilitating the business of the Democratic Party, those elected as Delegates and Alternates to the State Convention have a number of opportunities to get involved and support the convention planning process, including soliciting auction items for our Convention Kickoff Silent Auction and helping to find volunteers willing to work at the State Convention.
Below is some general information on Corpus Christi, as well as links to events and activities surrounding the State Convention. Please be sure to check back frequently, as our website will be updated regularly as we get closer to the Convention. Please feel free to contact our TDP Convention staff if you have any questions. The Convention Staff can be reached at the TDP office at 512-478-9800 or by email at sleavitt@txdemocrats.org and mdewar@txdemocrats.org.
Sign-up online today to become a volunteer at the State Convention!
Also, download a paper copy of the volunteer form to distribute at local events.
Silent Auction Information
Tentative Convention Schedule
Housing Information (to be released)
Lady Bird Johnson “Blue Star” Breakfast (to be released)
State Convention Kickoff (to be released)
2010 State Convention Exhibitor/Vendor Booth Information (to be released)
CVB Articles (to be released)
Precinct Conventions Information
County and Senatorial District Convention Information
Main Convention Page
Poised to Run is the most comprehensive study ever conducted on state legislators’ routes to office.
The report offers a fresh look at how women reach the legislatures and how their pathways to public office have changed over time. Findings from a nationwide survey compare women and men, examining their decisions to seek office, previous political experiences, and personal backgrounds.
Among the findings of the study is that women need to be recruited! Women are more likely than men to run for office because they were recruited rather than deciding to run on their own.
Additional report highlights include:
Political Parties Matter
It is critical that women candidates attract party support. Women who reach the legislature usually do so with the support of their parties.
Organizations Help Women Run
Organizations are encouraging women to run for office, but they could be more active in candidate recruitment.
More Women Can Run
The pool of women candidates is larger than is commonly believed.
Resources are Important
More funding and training can help women win.
Read the full report: http://www.cawp.rutgers.edu/research/reports/PoisedtoRun.pdf
The Victoria Democrats Club was the site of a primary candidates forum recently. Attendees included Winston Cochran, Jeff Cherry and Robert Pruett, candidates for US Congress, 14th District. 
Also attending were incumbent Val Huvar and Robert Cortez, candidates for County Clerk. Deborah Branch and Frank Henderson, candidates for Criminal District Attorney also spoke to local Democrats. 
Incumbent Justice of the Peace, Pct No. 1 Annie Ramos spoke as well. Also speaking at the forum were Justice of the Peace Pct. No. 3 candidate Beatriz Gonzalez. 
Incumbent County Commissioner Pct. No. 4 Wayne Dierlam spoke to local Democrats as well. County Judge Donald Pozzi and challenger Ron Reyna also spoke at the forum.
On January 12, 2010, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 rocked Haiti 10 miles from the capital of Port-au-Prince and has decimated the country. The eyes of the world have turned their focus to help those in need.
• Several organizations that are assisting with the efforts in Haiti are:
Clinton Foundation Haiti Relief Fund
Doctors Without Borders
Unicef
Save the Children
Mercy Corp
Democrats Believe:
In quality education which gives all children an opportunity to reach their full potential, and rewards fairly teachers and educations.
